Fergus County argus., 1887-01-27
WASHINGTON lerTER,


frrom an Occasional Correspondent
WASHINGTON. D. c., Jan. 18th, 1887.
There are ten books in the secret arch.
ives Of the United States patent office for
which patent attorneys in Washington
would be willing to give 500. 900.
They are the books containing the names
and addresses Of inventors whose cases
have been rejected during the past ten
years. There has been an average Of 2s,-
900 cases filed in the patent Office every
year for the last ten years and a yearly
average Of 1000 patents granted. Last
year there were $4,000 applications filed
aud $4,000 patents issued, the largest
number in any one year. On this showing
something like so per cent Of the applica.
tions have been patented. So there have
been during the last ten years about 1OO,.
900 rejected cases. These in part include
cases defeated in interferences and applca-
tions allowed, but on which final fees have
not been paid.
Now good attorneys get fully 90 per
cent of these cases allowed and patented:
hence there must be some reason for only
80 per cent Of the applications being
allowed. The reason is this; fully 5000
inventors every year make out their own
cases and try to get them through the
patent office. Not knowing the routine
they almost invariably get involved in the
meshes Oi red tape and the intracacies Of
patent Office procedure. The difficulty
may be slight, u mere informality, defect
i've drawing, an improperly worded appl-
cation, an indefinite specification, or a
slight interference requiring few amend
ments which u skillful patent attorney
could make In half an hour. But to the
inventor these prove an insurmountable
obstacle; his application is rejected and he
gives up in disgust or despair.
Applications for patents in the United
States patent Office go first to the twenty
eight principal examiners, according to the
subject matter. II they are rejected two
years are allowed in which to amend them
or take other necessary action. II no ac-
tion shall have been taken at the end Of
two years, such cases are treated as aban-
dOned, and are sent to the division where
they are entered in the books which the
patent attorneys so much covet. Fully
80, 900 Of the rejected cases OF the last
ten years fall under these conditions. At
low estimate 25, 900 Of these rejected
cases put in the hands Of competent
attorney, could he patented. A patent
attorney s fees ON such conditional cases
would be about $25 per case--a gross sum
of 1925, 900. Count out disgusted invent
Ors and those not able to pay still an
enormous number would get out patents il
they knew how. But the trouble is just
here-no one outside the patent office is
allowed access to those file books, and
without them they cannot learn the name
and address OF inventors. Then again,
there are some 5000 cases now lying in
the examiners rooms awaiting the two
years limit. These are still more valua-
bile, for II they are taken up before the
time-limit expires, the initial fees do not
lapse. while in the other cases they would
have to be repaid.
The practice in the United States patent
Office was not always thus. During Grants
first term for u period of about a year, at
torneys were allowed access to all letter
books, and previous to that had been al
lowed access to the files of abandoned
cases, but there WAS n constant scramble
and not infrequently downright fights
over them, and about 1875 the patent
office made them secret.
The letter about rejected patents in this
issue il by c. \. Snow, patent attorney,
Washington, d. C., whose advertisement is
in another column.